Views from the Edge of Edinburgh.

Tag: Interview

Neu! Reekie! multi-platformed performance night adds more strings to its bow releasing a single and simultaneously launching a record label this coming weekend. The double-A side single is officially released on August 1st but you can attend the label launch in Edinburgh or Glasgow, or both if you feel so inclined!

At the beginning of May, voters across the country will have the opportunity
to elect a raft of new civic leaders to their respective councils. In doing so
they can display their satisfaction or displeasure with the performance of both
grass-roots candidates and their affiliated national parties. We live in
interesting times and although the Conservatives have very little to lose in
terms of popularity north of the border, the Liberal Democrats and Labour
could well be bracing themselves for a seismic shift in fortunes in areas of
historical strength. This may bode well for the SNP, but it may also revive
interest in the smaller parties and independent candidates.

A political movement now experiencing a surge of support and political gains
across Europe is the Pirate Party. Despite the somewhat amusing moniker,
this movement is attracting many who are disillusioned with the high-handed
dictates of the political elite and their apparent attacks on personal privacy and
human rights.

The pirates have now landed in the UK and will be fielding candidates in Scotland.

Well, I’ve been following this story for almost a year and even now – not all of Leith seems to be in the know regarding the application to build a biomass power plant at the docks by Forth Energy.

When I camped out at the Leith Community Centre pre-Christmas in order to record some audio vox-pops on the subject – I was met with blank looks or at best an acceptance of a fait accompli. However, the fat lady is only warming up and if her musical trillings have not yet been heard then there is still debate and decision to be made on both sides of the argument.

Indeed, Forth Energy have only just made their application and there is a 28 day consulting period in which the public have an opportunity to make its’ opinion known to the Scottish Government in writing or by email. Obviously, it is in the interest of Forth Energy to engage with the people of Leith as a legal requirement and to that end will hold further exhibitions around the port for the 28 day period. I shall include both the exhibition venues and dates, along with the government contact details at the end of this piece.

Just before disappearing into the swirling blizzards of north-east Scotland for Yuletide – I was fortunate enough to secure and record audio interviews with Calum Wilson, the Managing Director of Forth Energy along with Labour’s Malcolm Chisholm and Shirley-Anne Somerville of the SNP. Mr Chisholm and Ms Somerville are leading a cross-party effort to stymie the application on environmental concerns and hold a moritorium in order to fully scrutinize the green credentials of the proposals.

The interviews will be posted here on Firehorse Findings in the next week. Interested parties have until the 11th of March to write to the government with their views on the proposals. Be reminded that you can still access my original articles on this subject, here on the blog.

If you wish to see the exhibitions by Forth Energy regarding the plant you can view them at the following locations: –

Any comments you wish to make will be taken into consideration when the Scottish Government makes the decision on whether to grant permission to Forth Energy or not. These comments should be forwarded to: –

Well this IS exclusive to the blog – for the next 3-4 hours anyway. I had a chat with CiW and their manager, Lloyd Meredith of peenko fame the other day in a very noisy room at Leith FM. You may notice some choice ambient sounds in the background from time to time, but it was a nice wee blether none the less. We would have melted if the window had been closed!

The guys provided a couple of tracks, as listed below and will be appearing at The Liquid Ship in Glasgow on Thursday 1st July – a free event, if you are up for the trip.

…but not for long?

I’m hoping to have this chat broadcast on Leith Talk (Thursday 1st July edition), with Alan Dudley – so I better get those proverbial wheelie shoes on…